Ocean Beach cleanup continues for boat with Santa Cruz ties

SANTA CRUZ -- Part of San Francisco's Ocean Beach remains closed to the public in the wake of a boat grounding of a vessel with Santa Cruz ties.

Vessel removal efforts are expected to continue through Friday after the 37-foot fishing vessel Paloma was found stranded off the San Francisco beach's north end Monday. Fuel tanks carrying about 35 gallons of diesel fuel were removed from the Paloma Wednesday morning and efforts turned toward debris cleanup. The National Park Service has been tasked with the boat's removal.

"It is unknown how much fuel Paloma had onboard when it grounded," Coast Guard spokesman Loumania Stewart wrote in a release. "Trace amounts of unrecoverable product were noted, which quickly dissipated, in the immediate vicinity."

The U.S. Coast Guard received a Mayday report relayed by another vessel around 3:30 a.m. Monday. After the stranding, debris was seen covering the shore nearby and an emergency raft was found, but the boat's captain, identified as Timothy Lybrand, has not yet been located.

The vessel's home port remains registered as Santa Cruz, but Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor interim Harbormaster John Haynes said the vessel left some time ago when a Crescent City owner purchased it. ------ (c)2014 the Santa Cruz Sentinel (Scotts Valley, Calif.) Visit the Santa Cruz Sentinel (Scotts Valley, Calif.) at www.santacruzsentinel.com